Opera Max now in open beta – reduce your data usage by up to 50%

Opera Turbo all the things! Starting today, Opera is taking sign-ups for the soon to be widely released Beta version of their Max app and service. Max is a free app that reduces your data usage by compressing all non-encrypted data to your Android device. We covered it in detail last December when Opera rolled out to a limited set of US only beta testers. This time around, Opera is looking for a larger group and will be including European users.

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Opera has a function called Turbo mode that has been present on the Opera web browser for years. When turned on, instead of your browser pulling all of the text and data straight from (non-encrypted) websites, it pulls from pre-cached website data stored on Opera’s servers. The data is compressed and sent to your computer, resulting in smaller data transmissions and theoretically greater speeds. Google recently rolled out a similar feature for the Android version of Chrome as well.

Unlike Opera’s Turbo and Google’s data saving techniques, Max will not be limited to just browser traffic, but will work for everything on your Android device. We understand that encrypted apps, like Facebook, will not benefit from the service. Luckily though, using Max with some very data hungry apps like YouTube, Flipboard and Vine can really save you some data.

We are not certain if Max will become a paid service in the future, but there is a significant trade off to using it. All of your non-encrypted data will pass through Opera’s servers, so the question is, do you trust Opera with all of your data? We’ll offer you no reason not to, but you’ll have to make that choice for yourself.

If you are ready to start saving as much as 50% of your data on your Android device, go install Opera Max beta from the Google Play Store now. This reserves your spot into their first-come, first-served invitation restricted beta service. They say access will start rolling out in a few days.

Do you use Opera and have you tried their Turbo mode? Maybe you were a part of the initial beta for Max? Have you seen any noticeable speed increases or data use reductions?